The Lone Sniper: I Was Just Minding My Own Business Sniping Players, and I Ended Up Becoming a Raid Boss

Chapter 82

Chapter 82

I pull the trigger of the sniper rifle (Stark) aimed at Labyrinth's wyvern flying through the sky.

The black laser beam fired from Stark pierces the wyvern. The wyvern explodes, and Labyrinth is hurled into the air.

Perhaps it was an unexpected blow to Labyrinth; she falls, arms and legs flailing.

(I'll hunt her in mid-air!!)

Mid-air, where freedom of movement is limited.

Yet high above the reach of streetlights. Stark's black bullets should melt into the darkness of night, making them hard to dodge.

I pull the rifle's trigger three more times. The first bullet is avoided with thruster acceleration, the second is also evaded with thrusters, but the third, timed for the instant the thrusters cut out, strikes Labyrinth's waist.

"Huh?"

It should've hit, yet the laser was somehow deflected. The mantle is pierced through. From the holed mantle, a teardrop-shaped Orb (Triad) spilled out. That let me guess why the laser was deflected.

(The laser bullet must've been repelled by an Orb stored in an inner pocket of the mantle.)

At that impact point it couldn't be fatal anyway. I should count it as luck.

(Looks like Triad doesn't take any damage from Stark's attacks. In that case...!)

Labyrinth lands once on the top of a utility pole, recovers the thrusters to a minimum, then leaps, reaching toward the falling Triad. I snipe the Triad, knocking it away so it won't reach Labyrinth's hand. As I keep sniping again and again, the distance between us shrinks.

(Good, lure complete.)

Assault rifle and Bullet Piece range!

Seeing me draw the assault rifle, Labyrinth withdraws her hand and retreats to a nearby rooftop. The Triad falls to the road.

"First, recover the Orb!"

"Yes!"

Dodging obstacles on the road, I head for the Triad. I stretch out my hand and pick it up.

"The real thing?"

"What do you think..."

"Lemme see it a sec."

Ms. Eve grips the orb, gazes at it for a while, then—

"Definitely genuine."

Given her profession, Ms. Eve has seen plenty of valuables. Her eye for appraisal is trustworthy.

About 200 m ahead on a low-rise building. Labyrinth looks this way, smiles faintly, then turns her back and starts to flee.

"Now then, all that's left is to catch the Phantom Thief. Take the treasure and go home, or give chase. Your call, Shiki."

"I'll pursue. Once I close the gap to the Phantom Thief to 100 m, Ms. Eve, please withdraw with the Orb."

"Roger that, partner."

For some reason Ms. Eve steers the bike toward the casino wall.

"Ms. Eve!?"

"Hold on tight!!"

Ms. Eve lifts the bike's front wheel, plants front then rear wheels against the wall in sequence, and rides upward.

"Running along a wall...!? How are you sticking to the wall!?"

"Magnetism! Magnetic cores are built into the wheels, handlebars, every part of the frame, generating directional magnetic force that repels internally and presses the bike against the wall!!"

"I don't really get what you're saying, but okay!"

The bike climbs onto the casino's electronic billboard, uses the sign as a runway, and leaps onto a building roof.

"Can you see her?"

I peer through the scope.

(Why...)

Labyrinth had stopped on a rooftop 300 m ahead.

And for some reason she looked back here, grinned again, and started running.

(Is she taunting me?)

There might be a trap, but I have no choice but to follow.

"Two o'clock!"

"Roger!"

Ms. Eve uses the bike's thrusters to fly from rooftop to rooftop.

Labyrinth moves nimbly over the buildings using wires from her hands and thrusters on her back.

I snipe, but Labyrinth dodges easily.

(Aerial maneuvers with wires and thrusters! Her movements are irregular and hard to read, and her reflexes are sharp—my shots don't land. If only the bullet speed were higher...!)

Wishing for what I don't have won't help.

The suppressive fire is working. With every shot, her escape speed slackens.

Just a little more and I'll catch up!

"Whoa!?"

With four buildings left to go, the bike lurches.

(Damn...!?)

Looking back at where we just passed, I realize the mistake.

The rooftop we're on had caltrops scattered on it, colored to blend in. We didn't notice; the tires hit them and punctured. The warp in the tires throws the whole balance off. Thanks to our speed, there's no time to right the bike.

The bike flips, crashes through the rooftop railing, and we're hurled into the air above the street.

"Shiki!! I'm bailing here! You go after her!"

Ms. Eve grabs my arm, tears me from the bike, and throws me into the air.

"Thank you!"

I use my thrusters to land on the rooftop of the building ahead. Ms. Eve falls to the road with the bike.

(With thrusters she should avoid fatal injury. Right now, chasing Labyrinth is top priority!)

Shaking off worry for Ms. Eve, I continue pursuit.

I race through the night streets after Labyrinth. By sniping to halt her steps, I somehow keep up.

On an especially tall skyscraper rooftop, Labyrinth stops abruptly.

"Well, finally just the two of us."

Fifteen meters apart. Within G-AGE range.

(At this distance this is better than a sniper rifle. I'll harden my defense with Bullet Pieces and finish her with G-AGE.)

I'll draw this into my sure-win pattern.

"Geez, don't make such a scary face. Oh, right! I'll show you something interesting. I think you'll really like it."

Labyrinth lightly lifts her skirt. That action reveals a certain weapon hidden beneath it.

Black stockings up to her thighs—into which a pistol was tucked.

"My ace in the hole♪"

Then she takes the pistol from her stocking.

"Th-that's...!?"

I can't help being shocked.

A familiar pistol... Short-recoil firing system, double-action mechanism. An automatic born in Germany—yet its color is different from the one I know.

"A... red... Walther...!?"

"That's right. This gun's name is—"

Clouds shift, moonlight spills. Like a spotlight, moonlight falls on Labyrinth's head.

"Walther P38—'Red-Lie'"